Best First Hours

Borderlands

When I first heard about Borderlands,
I somehow just knew it was going to be a game that I would like.
I don’t know how I knew, I just knew. It reminds me of the days
when I was 12 years old and shopped for video games by looking at the
pictures on the back of the game box in the toy store so long ago.
I don’t know how it worked, but I could look at those 2 or 3 screenshots
and read that lonely paragraph and know with certainty if I would like
the game or not. Just like shopping in the toy store years ago,
I actually knew very little about the details of Borderlands.
I knew it was an FPS, and I had heard it had RPG elements. I had read
a story on Kotaku that discussed a drastic shift from “realistic”
graphics to a more “cartoony” cell shaded design. There was
little else I could tell you about the game. But somehow, I wanted
it.

So, I added it to my mental
list of games to play without too much thought. I wasn’t in a big
hurry, simply because I’m generally pretty patient about getting games.
This allows me to scoop up great deals from the Target clearance game
shelf. As Greg, purveyor of First Hour, noted in a recent conversation
on LIVE, I’m a person who often likes games that other people don’t.
Well, I’m also a person who loves to get a bargain and both traits
suit me well for the clearance shelf. If I wait that first month
to buy a game and it’s a critical and commercial failure, there’s
a good chance it will see 50% off on the Target clearance shelf. It
wasn’t long before I realized that Borderlands would not be one of
those games. Apparently, people were liking it. Good for the developers
and bad for my wallet. This only fueled my desire to play the
game sooner rather than later. I finally found a Sunday ad with the
game on sale for $39.99 and decided it was fate. You’re about
to read the first hour of what fate decided was a game I must play.

Minute by Minute

(minutes are in bold) 00 – I load up the game from my Xbox control panel and a few
seconds later I’m compelled to push start. There are several
game options including Single Player, Splitscreen and Xbox Live. I choose
Single Player. I then choose New Character.

01 – As soon as I
click, it triggers a cutscene. A raspy voiceover begins telling me about
the legend of the “vault” while hand-drawn stills depict the story
being told.

02 – I’m told that
on the planet Pandora lies a hidden vault containing riches, weapons,
power, and everything you could possibly imagine. I’m told that the
story is true. I’m told there is a guardian angel who helps lead worthy
vault hunters to their destination. The tense used in the cutscene is
a bit confusing. I’m not sure if I’m being talked to as one of the
vault hunters from the legend, or as someone hearing about it after
the fact.

03
– Ok, that cutscene is over and appears to have been a simple
background. Another cutscene begins. This cutscene feels more “present-day”. It’s very
stylish, comic book looking animation with an AWESOME backing soundtrack.
The song used is “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” by Cage the Elephant
as I find out later after some small amount of research.

04 – This new cutscene
pans across a desolate landscape and we see a large roadside billboard.
On the billboard it says Welcome to Pandora. The billboard is dilapidated
and missing sections. A small section falls away and a nasty looking
doglike creature emerges from behind it. As the music gets louder, the
animal walks out onto a highway. Just at the apex of the intro
music the animal is hit by a passing bus. The music kicks in louder
and I really start to get interested. Not sure if the game will be good,
but it’s stylish and fun. During the music we get some credits, Gearbox
Games, etc. The camera pans inside the bus and we see 4 people.
We are introduced to them one by one. Mordecai the Hunter is a
spindly individual with a goatee and mask over his eyes. He swings a
knife and appears as if he knows how to use it. Lilith “The Siren”
walks seductively toward the camera while seemingly going invisible.

05 – Roland “The
Soldier” looks to be a loner, shying away from the camera, wearing
combat armor, he’s clearly the “guns” guy. Lastly we see Brick
“as Himself”. Brick is enormous, with a tank top and a skinhead.
He looks like he could literally break you in half with his bare hands
and eat you without a care. The music starts to fade and the raspy
voice comes back. It’s the bus driver. We learn his name is Marcus.
“Next stop, Fyrestone Depot, time to get your stuff, who’s getting
off?” Now we get the choice of character: Soldier, Hunter, Berserker,
or Siren. I choose Siren because I’m curious about this invisibility
and it says her weapon of choice is Sub-Machine guns, which happens
to be the best type of gun. Fact.

06 – Once I make my
choice, a new, picture-in-picture cutscene triggers. It’s the face
of a woman, telling me she’s here to help. I’m guessing it’s the
“guardian angel” I was told about in the legend of the vault intro. She
tells me not to worry, to do as she says and I’ll be fine. She says
there is a Robot waiting outside the bus and that I should do what it
says. She will reveal more in time.

07 – I step off the
bus, just outside of a dusty shanty town. The bus drives away in a cloud
of smoke. I’m all alone. I turn (look only control), and see a robot
waving the bus off. He comes up to me and introduces himself as CL4PTP
and tells me to call him “Claptrap”. He hands me a device, a heads
up display and echo communication device provided by the Dahl corporation.

08 – Once I have it,
my HUD starts coming online. Meters appear for health, experience module,
compass, weapon, ammo count, etc. And now, I have a gun in hand. He
tells me to follow him. I have movement control for the first time,
and so I follow him. He leads me to a small pole coming out of the ground.
It’s called a New-U station. I have to click on it to store my DNA.
Doing so allows me to re-name my character or customize colors.
Apparently if I die, now I’ll reload at the nearest New-U station.
Neat.

09 – I continue following
the robot to a metal gate structure. It appears to lead into the town.
He inputs a code at the gate control panel and waits. As he waits a
bunch of off road vehicles like those in the movie Mad Max jump past,
over the gate. They do a few cookies just on the other side of the gate,
shooting at everything. They cause some explosions and drive away. He
finally gets the gate open and we go through.

10 – As we clear the
gate, we can see some people just down the road. They have masks on
and uh-oh, they start shooting at me. I catch my bearings now
that I’m in full control mode and return fire with the right trigger
as you’d expect. The submachine gun crackles to life with a very pleasing percussive sound effect and I take out the first bandit
with about 5 rounds. The barrel is short and so the gunfire is
not incredibly accurate. Using the left trigger to engage “iron sites”
makes bullets go just where I want them; into the next bandits gray
matter. Splat, “CRITICAL”, in big red letters jumps out of the bandits
head as he falls lifeless to the ground. Nice. I love a game that
gives good critical hit notification.

11 – Several more
bandits follow. Unfortunately, that critical hit appears to have been
a lucky shot as I don’t get any more. In fact, now that I’m trying
for headshots, I’m missing altogether. Better stick to the bigger
target and keep my trigger pulls low and in the middle. Ok, that’s
better. Unfortunately, it seems I learned the lesson too late.
I’ve run out of ammo. I flee back a few meters and take cover
behind an old lean-to of some kind. What to do?

12 – I run back where
I killed the first bandits. Thankfully, it now appears that they dropped
some ammo. Somehow I didn’t see it the first time. I pick it
up and go re-engage the next bandits. I’m at about 50% health. I pick
up some more money (from inside a toilet?) and take out a few more bandits.
They drop health and ammo. Nice.

13 – More bandits
run at me from areas down the road. They shoot a blue barrel and it explodes
in a giant blue electricity looking explosion. Not sure what that was but
apparently no one told the developers that only red barrels are supposed
to explode. As I take out the last of the bandits, the claptrap
comes out from where it was hiding and beckons me over to a large red
crate. He tells me to open it. It contains ammo and two pistols. I take
them gladly. I’m told to switch weapons using “Y”. I hit “Back”
and look at my inventory and assign one of them to my quick weapon slot,
of which I have two. I choose the pistol with a scope on it.

14 – The claptrap
leads me to another gate. He can’t get it open so he leads me through
a little hole in the wall where I learn how to crouch and how to jump.
As I clear the jump, two more bandits emerge from behind a small shed.
More gunfire. I’m nearly to level 2 at this point. I wasn’t
ready for this fire fight and I’m nearly dead and low on ammo.

15 – I take out the
last guy and he drops zip. I have 7 health left and start scrounging
around. There are small garbage piles on the ground (and more toilets?)
you can “open” and one of them contains a health vial and ammo.
Thank goodness. Finding health in a toilet. Something seems wrong about
that. It reminds me of a scene from the movie Trainspotting that I won’t
talk about here.

16 – As I round a
corner, I see yet another bandit and take him out. As I do so, a very
large “LEVEL UP” flashes on screen. Now I’m level 2. With
that comes full health, so now I’m in pretty good shape. I’m told
that I will also do more damage. Excellent.

17 – The guardian
angels vision appears again once all the bandits are gone and tells
me that she made the right choice and that I’m doing well.

18 – After the vision,
the Claptrap leads me to a small metal structure and tells the occupants
that it is now safe to open the doors. Dr. Zed answers from the
inside and says the door is stuck. I receive my first mission: “Open
Building No3 in Fyrestone”. I learn about the mission indicator on
the HUD and how waypoints work. I open the door and a cutscene triggers. We see
a man in what looks like a medical uniform. He’s about to cut on a dead
body with a rather large disc of some sort with a long handle. As he reaches above his
head with a swing that would decapitate a horse, we get a freeze frame
and see the name Dr. Zed in bold text. Very stylish.

19 – Now the cutscene is over. Dr. Zed is
standing there and we get an onscreen cue that we can talk to him. I
do so. Now I can “turn in” my mission of opening the door
and I get a small amount of experience. He gives me a new mission: “Skags
at the gate”. I’m told to go kill 5 nasty skags, (those dog-like
animals from the intro cutscene). My way point indicator shows where
I need to go and the claptrap leads me there.

20 – As we approach
another closed gate leading out of town a bandit vehicle drives by and
with some sort of launcher, shoots the claptrap which falls to the ground
moaning. The vehicle leaves and some bandits jump over the wall. I take
them out. As a level 2, they are not quite as tough.

21 – Once all the
bandits are dead, Dr. Zed communicates with me via my Dahl Echo thingy
and tells me I’ve gotten under “Nine-Toes” skin by killing a bunch
of his bandits. The angel then appears in another vision and gives me
another mission. Repair the damaged claptrap by finding a repair kit.

22 – I wander around
until I find the repair kit. I take it back and use it on the robot.
It gives me experience and the claptrap jumps back to life. The robot
finally opens the gate. I go outside and see some skags foraging. I
shoot one and two more emerge from the den, a hole in the hillside. I
shoot one in the mouth and score a critical hit. Gibs!

23 – Upon killing
the 5th one, Dr. Zed tells me to come back. I run back into
town and turn in the mission. I get some experience and Dr. Zed
gives me a new objective: To fix the “Med Vendor” and buy a shield.

24 – I accept the
mission and check my waypoint indicator. It shows a point outside of
town, past where I just killed the skags. I run that direction and see
the claptrap. He tells me “Check me out, I’m dancing, I’m dancing!”.
He then proceeds to spin up on one hand and then down into a backspin,
landing in the classic pose, head in hand, elbow on the ground.
A breakdancing robot. Nice!

25 – I proceed on,
following my mission indicator, and am back outside town on a dusty
road. I see the broken med vendor and approach it to get the part
I need. A few skags come out of a cave and more gunfire ensues. These
skags can really jump. Once they fall, I grab the part and head
back to town.

27 – I’m told to
press “L” to sprint. I sprint. I get back to Dr. Zed and fix the
vendor which looks like a pop machine. I click on it and I can
buy a shield. When I do, my shield display module comes online. It explains
that after taking damage, your shield will slowly recharge.

28 – I turn in the
mission to Dr. Zed and he tells me that Nine-Toes is having the town
of Fyrestone watched and that I should take out the guys doing so.
The mission is called “Blinding Nine-Toes”. Once I accept
the mission, the angel appears in another vision and tells me I need
to gain the trust of the locals, that I can do this by helping them
with their problems. My mission indicator tells me that I need to kill
8 bandits. On the way to the bandits, I see some more skags and take
them out. This new shield is a huge help. In killing the skags, I level
up to Level 3.

29 – As I run up the
hill, I see some more bandits patrolling a small area. I approach and
they start shooting. In working on the bandits I get a few more
critical hits and my character makes comments when I do so. One
example, as I shoot a bandit in the face, the siren exclaims, “Feel
it!”. The comments actually help make the combat more interesting,
as your character voices what you’re already feeling. At one point
in the firefight, one of the bandits shouts, “Nobody shoots my buddy
but me!”. Wow, these guys really are “Mad Max” style crazy.
I like it.

30 – Once I take out
the bandits I head back to town to turn it in. The Doc tells me I need
to look for a guy named TK Baja, says he will know how to find Nine-Toes’
hideout.

31 – Using the objective
indicator I run my way to TK’s claim. TK Baja is sitting in a chair
on the front porch……..pointing a shotgun at me! In another
stylish cutscene we’re introduced to TK, a blind miner who lives just
outside Fyrestone. Even being blind, he knows the area better than anyone.
Also, he doesn’t shoot me. He was just kidding. Get it?

32 – So TK tells me
that he needs a favor. He explains that some no good, dirty skags made
off with some of his food. If I can find it for him and bring it back,
he’ll help me out with my Nine-Toes problem. So I note my mission
indicator and head over to another skag filled area of the map. There
are quite of few of them, but with lots of ammo and time, I take them
out. I see my first level 4 enemy skag. It took quite a bit more ammo
to bring it down.

34 – So I kill about
10 more skags of varying level and difficulty. Some are more aggressive
than others. In the process, I collect 4 large ham hock looking
things. They glow green and pulsate so you easily know that’s what
you’re after which is nice. Once I get all four, I turn tail
and make my way back to TKs claim.

35 – When I get back
to TK, he tells me that if I want to find Nine-Toes, I’ll need some
explosives. He tells me that I need to go buy some grenades in town.
On my way back to town, Marcus, (the bus driver) comes across on the
echo communication device. Marcus tells me that due to all the
killing lately in Fyrestone, he’s been able re-open the weapons vendor.
Now I’ll have a place to buy weapons and ammo. Who says nothing good
comes from killing?

37 – So I run back
to town and buy some grenades. I kill a few skags and bandits on the
way. The bandits I run into are level 3 and carry automatic weapons,
a notable upgrade from the repeater pistols they were carrying earlier
in the game. The weapons vendor has about 5 guns on offer and
ammo for all of them. I can’t afford anything better than what I have
so I just dream about the nice ones that I’ll be buying later.

40 – When I get back
to TK, he tells me to “take the grenade to Skag Gully and shove it
up Nine-Toes ass”. Sounds like a pretty good plan. I now have a new
objective and new mission indicator. Lets head on over to Skag
Gully. Sounds like there will be lots of skag corpses in my future.
I’m ok with that. I hate them dang skags. I realize TK is starting
to rub off on me and I head out.

42 – At the entrance
to Skag Gully is a large detonation device. I push the plunger down
and BOOM. The entrance to skag gully opens up before me. I click on
the button and zone. Load up Skag Gully.

43 – Just inside Skag
Gully are two more vending machines, one each for health and ammo.
Apparently they’re prepping me for something. That’s fine as it
saves me a jog back to town. I go to the vendors and spec out
my gear. Still can’t afford more than ammo. I load up and I’m on
my way.

44 – Skag Gully is
even more desolate than the last area I was in. There are giant rusty
windmills turning in the distance that give a depth to both the scenery
and the feeling of abandonment. I like it. With all the
skags I’ve killed I’m dangerously close to Level 5.

45 – I wander around
in Skag Gully and come across some level 6 and level 7 skags and spitter
skags. I avoid them and head the other direction, stumbling into a large
nest of level 4s. As I kill them, some drop ammo and some drop
weapons. I also find an occasional weapon in the little piles of rubbish
on the ground.

46 – Ding! Level 5.
I’m told that I now have a skill point to spend. I go into my character
skill screen and the only option currently available is Phasewalk. I
spend the point and exit the screen. I’m then instructed to use Left
Bumper to trigger my action skill, and that the skill will only again
become available once it recharges. I’m told that when I enter and
exit phasewalk I create a phase blast that will damage nearby enemies.
Excellent.

47 – So I test it
out. While I’m phased, I’m invisible and I can run super fast.
Exactly what I wanted, a means to flee the scene if things get too hot.
Perfect for single player game play which is good since I tend to play
games solo most of the time.

48 – As I travel further
into the gully, I stumble upon an old gravesite. There is a flashing
marker indicating that I can interact with it. When I do, I locate a
hidden weapon cache. A pistol called “Lady Finger” pops out. It
has stats superior to my existing pistol so I gladly equip it.

49 – As I continue
on, I encounter a few more skags and some crazy little midgets that
come running at me screaming. It’s quite unsettling. They’re
like miniature versions of the bandits, only faster and with high pitched
voices. They make a hard target, particularly the one entitled,
“Mutant Midget Psycho”. Surprise surprise, he’s not friendly.
After a lucky critical to the midget, I phasewalk out and give my shield
a chance to breathe.

50 – Once I’m healed
I return to the scene and clean up the rest of the baddies. One of them
dropped an object. Further inspection reveals it to be a grenade mod.
Grenade mods are explained to be objects that modify how a traditional
grenade behaves. This particular mod turns grenades into sticky grenades
that will adhere to whatever they hit before exploding. I think I’ll
find them quite useful.

51 – I continue heading
toward Nine-Toes and I receive another vision from the angel of the
vault (which is what I’m now calling her). She tells me I’m about
to face my first real challenge and that she hopes I’ve toughened
up enough. I hope I have too. I continue on and run into
some bandits with shotguns and shields. They are significantly tougher
than those I’ve seen up to this point.

52 – After taking
them out, I head back through skag gully mopping up any loose skags
I can find in an effort to hit level 6 before I engage Nine-Toes.

55 – In the process
of ridding Skag Gully of skags, I level up to 6 and acquire a few more
crappy guns. I head back to town to unload everything I’ve found
and check the weapon vendor for anything interesting.

56 – Nice surprise
there is an SMG on sale at the vendor that I can just afford after stocking
up on ammo. I buy it. It has a small scope on it which makes it
much better than my last one.

57 – I’m now back
at the entrance to Skag Gully and find that the skags I had killed are
back. No worries, with my new gun and higher level, they are no
match for me.

59 – I’m now back
at the entrance to Nine-Toes lair. There is a New-U station just
outside and I realize the hour is up. I hit pause and save my
game. I can’t wait to jump back in and see if I can’t get a look
at those famous toes.

First Hour Summary

Minutes to Action: 10

Minutes to Control:
7

What I liked: The setting is right up my alley. That post-apocalyptic
Mad Max style is beautifully realized. It makes me want to watch the
Mad Max movies again. The environment, enemies, and weapons are
all very well tied to the theme. It has a cohesion that many games
lack. It’s a place I really want to spend time in, to explore
and to get to know. I’m curious whats around the next corner,
what will be the next enemy I see (a midget?) and what crazy NPC will
I meet along the way.

What I didn't like: Not much. There were a couple of times when
picking up a weapon it would replace the gun I was previously using.
It took me a moment to realize that if you hit “x” you’ll pick
up what’s on the ground, but if you HOLD “x” you’ll not only
pick it up but also it will replace what you’re currently using. I
can see the usefulness of it but when you also HOLD “x” to pick
up all the ammo that’s nearby, there are bound to be some confusing
moments, particularly considering how loot heavy this game looks to
be. But this is a trifle in an otherwise very strong first hour.
The game had humor, great shooting controls, and very pleasing visuals.
If it can keep this up for the long haul, this is going to be a great
game indeed.

Gameplay: The gameplay is essentially mission-driven FPS.
There are long stretches where you travel around and talk to people
in between the shooting action. But when you consider the interesting
characters involved and the witty humor they inject into the game, they
are a net plus.

Fun Factor: Solid. I realize the fun factor of this game
will depend a lot on how you feel about this type of world and the delivery
mechanism. This game is clearly loot driven. The looting appears
to be tied together with a decent, although somewhat light, story in
an amazingly detailed environment. The characters are fun and we are
introduced to them in humorous and highly stylized ways.

Graphics and Sound: Excellent. This is probably the best use
of cell-shading since Okami and Wind Waker. I would not have thought
that a gritty shooter would do so well with this graphical style, but
it really works. It doesn’t look like PURE cell-shading, but I don’t
know how else to describe it. You have to see it to really understand
and enjoy it. The sound effects are top notch. Every gun has different
characteristics both in sound and in mannerism. Some guns have a lot
of recoil, others don’t. Some guns are noisy and others aren’t.
You can really tell they put an enormous amount of time and thought
into the weapon generation systems. This may be the best part
of the game.

Story: While the story is somewhat barebones; you’re basically
a treasure hunter in a foreign world, not really knowing what you’re
looking for while being guided by an angel. Yet, somehow it feels
like it works. Let me say this, if you really love story, you may be
a bit disappointed. Not that the story is bad, but that much of the
story comes from reading the mission boards and the backgrounds you
get from them. I’ll not make a final judgment this early, but
the story seem not to have been the most important element of this game.
But what I’ve seen so far makes me want to learn more.

Overall: Borderlands is a gritty stylish shooter with massive
RPG hooks. When I say RPG, I don’t really mean you get to roleplay,
but I think the term RPG has changed. Now I use it to mean there are
lots of different leveling up mechanics. Your character has a level.
Each weapon you carry gets leveled up as you use it. You get skill points
and get to spend them on 3 different skill trees. Its all very conventional,
but just a bit strange seeing it in an FPS. But it all dovetails beautifully.
Not since I played Puzzle Quest have I been so impressed with a developers
ability to “RPG-ify” a game so successfully.

Would I keep playing?
I’m absolutely going to keep playing, right after I watch Mad Max
one more time to help develop the mood. See you on Pandora!

It would definitely help people conceptualize the experience in lieu of something like a video walkthrough (which I still don't know how to integrate particularly well). And text is much faster/more convenient for many readers.